


those two words

by threefundamentaltruths



Series: bridgerton missing scenes [5]
Category: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
Genre: Bridgerton Brothers, Bridgerton Siblings, Bridgertons Being Bridgertons, Canon Compliant, Colin Bridgerton has two true loves: his wife and his food, Dad Bro Anthony Bridgerton, F/M, Family Feels, Missing Scene, Newlywed Colin Bridgerton, The mystery that is Colin Bridgerton's magical metabolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28690983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threefundamentaltruths/pseuds/threefundamentaltruths
Summary: Anthony can feel his lips curl into a smirk and he simply cannot help himself. “My, my, little brother. Aren’t we proud of those two words, and don’t we like to say them?”Wherein A, B, and G give lovesick newlywed C a hard time about his two favorite words.
Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington
Series: bridgerton missing scenes [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112294
Comments: 33
Kudos: 412





	those two words

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene from _To Sir Phillip, With Love_ /the _Romancing Mister Bridgerton_ second epilogue and quotes from a scene in TSPWL, but can be read without having read the books.
> 
> One line, from which the title is taken, is from _Little Women_ , specifically “Aren’t we proud of those two words, and don’t we like to say them?”
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [your3fundamentaltruths](https://your3fundamentaltruths.tumblr.com)

_1824 – Wiltshire_

“How long do we have to stay here?” Colin demands between bites of his second breakfast the morning after they retrieve Eloise from Romney Hall and retire to My Cottage.

By dint of being his elder, Anthony has known Colin all thirty-three years of his life and he has yet to figure out where Colin puts all that food. Yes, Colin fences and rides and occasionally boxes, but so do they all. The way Colin eats, he ought to be positively portly. Yet they can still share clothing to this day. In fact, only a few days ago, Colin borrowed his evening kit for Daphne’s ball and it had been a perfect fit.

(It was the very same evening Eloise disappeared and Colin revealed London’s best-kept secret – which, he’s just remembering, Eloise _still_ doesn’t know.

What a fitting punishment for everything she’s put them through in the last several days.)

And he knows for a fact his own measurements haven’t changed in the last fifteen years. It’s the damnedest thing.

“I told Eloise they had a week to sort themselves out. Two if absolutely necessary,” he replies.

“Bloody hell, Anthony. That’s an eternity,” Colin groans, taking a large sip of his tea.

“Unlike you, Eloise has not known her intended for a dozen years,” he quips.

Colin sighs dramatically. “Nevertheless, it is a very long time.”

He bites back a smile. “Is Benedict and Sophie’s hospitality truly so lacking?”

“Do try not to insult my wife,” Benedict growls before returning his attention to his eggs.

Colin rolls his eyes. “No,” he says petulantly.

“Is our company so lacking?” he asks, fully expecting an answer in the affirmative.

“Well, yes,” Colin replies without missing a beat. “I mean, you’re not the _worst_ company,” he concedes.

Gregory, who’s so far not contributed to the conversation beyond his complaints that Colin would starve him and has since been inhaling his food accordingly, huffs a laugh.

“But you’re not my wife.”

He decides to humor his brother. “That is true. Penelope we are not.”

“And I should like to get back to my wife before I forget what she looks like, you know,” Colin complains, warming to his theme.

Benedict, who’s been a bloody bastard all morning, practically biting everyone’s heads off when it’s no one’s fault but his own that he’s hungover, finally properly perks up at that. “Funnily enough, Anthony, Colin had quite a lot to say on the subject to Sir Phillip last night.”

“Only after you reminded him that there were other things in life besides food,” Gregory adds.

“Right, yes.” Benedict then clears his throat and, in a rather impressive imitation of their younger brother, says, “‘Ah, yes, my wife. Just so that you are aware, I would have rather spent the night with my wife.’”

Gregory grins and picks up the thread, in much the same tone, and does a more than passable job. “‘We’ve only been married a few weeks. Still newlyweds. I _really_ did not want to leave my wife.’”

Benedict idly flexes each finger of his right hand in turn, murmuring a word as each one points out toward Colin, whose face is beginning to turn pink. “‘Miss. My. Wife.’”

“That’s not a precise recollection?” he asks Gregory, lips twitching.

“Not a precise recollection, no,” his youngest brother demurs, not quite stifling a snicker before successfully snatching the last scone off a distracted Colin’s plate – a first in their family.

(Gregory is the very worst liar. It makes him so much easier to handle than the others.)

Anthony can feel his lips curl into a smirk and he simply cannot help himself. “My, my, little brother. Aren’t we proud of those two words, and don’t we like to say them?”

“Which words?” Colin says absently, his eyes searching until he locates the Kilmartin raspberry jam that can always be found on a Bridgerton table since Francesca’s marriage, but he isn’t fooling anyone. He refuses to look at them as he carefully spreads jam on a rather tasty-looking muffin that Anthony now regrets not snatching up while he had the chance.  
  
  


He sighs. One does have to be quick if one wants to eat in this family. “Well?” he insists, not willing to let Colin weasel out of answering.

“Yes, well –” Colin mumbles, his entire face now a rather shocking shade of pink.

Colin has been unflappable since birth, charming all and sundry from the cradle, and the only time he’s ever seen him embarrassed, ever seen his color rise from chagrin, was . . . well, that had to do with Penelope, too, actually, and the way Colin stuck his entire bloody foot in his mouth, loudly declaring on the pavement outside Number Five that he wouldn’t marry her, only to turn around and find that she heard the whole thing.

Funny how that worked out.

“– I can’t help being proud of my wife, you know.”

“We know,” Benedict mutters sardonically.

“As does half the ton,” Gregory reminds him with a smirk.

Colin, uncharacteristically, says nothing further. More characteristically, he continues tucking into his second breakfast, chewing thoughtfully on the jam-slathered muffin as his flush fades.

Personally, he suspects his brother is also making up for lost time. After all, Colin could easily have married Penelope years ago if he’d been so inclined and, perhaps more importantly, a bit less blind.

He supposes he can’t throw stones about not seeing what’s in front of you, given his own history, but at least it hadn’t taken him _years_ to sort himself out.

Thankfully, it all came right in the end, which is really all that matters. They may all tease and torment one another, as proper siblings do, but at the end of the day, all he wants is for his brothers and sisters to be happy and there is no doubt that Colin is happy.

He truly hopes the same can soon be said of Eloise.


End file.
